"We were trying to watch the college games last night," Crawford, 23, told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show Thursday morning. "Me and my friends are flipping through and Access Hollywood, they're like x-ing out the other guys. When they're x-ing out [George] Clooney, that's when it hit me. I go, 'Wow, that feels pretty surreal.' "

Part of the reason for his delayed reaction? The actor had to keep everything under wraps for a while. "I told my parents and that's about it," he said. "It's such a big deal. It's funny I didn’t really realize how massive [it] was going to be."

Up next, Crawford, who spoke to Seacrest from vacation, will star in Footloose a project he's excited about despite its physical demands.

"I've started prep for that and I'm extremely sore," he said. "I've been training four days, but I'm extremely sore. . . . It's really intense. We're getting the gymnastics and doing some workouts. I'm learning some basic moves. I've got a little rhythm. I'm realizing everyday how much of all the nine months [of prep] I'm going to need.